There are 3 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. [DL-N] Pounding Head, Shaking Ground
From: Bianca Payne <biancaknox@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
2. Re: [DL-W] - JP - Getting the Point Across
From: Allen Veazey <veazeyae@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
3. [USS CAPRICORN] Working it off. (JP)
From: "Arlene" <wondermom@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Message: 1
Date: Thu, 25 Aug 2005 15:36:15 -0700 (PDT)
From: Bianca Payne <biancaknox@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
Subject: [DL-N] Pounding Head, Shaking Ground
Day 9 Early Early Morning
[FOOD!]
Lily's imperious command shattered the protective cocoon of sleep.
Mallory leapt out of bed, covers flying, ready to respond. On her
feet, blinking in the dim-lit small room, yesterday caught up to her.
The new rider swayed on her feet as her head pounded in time to her
pulse, with a sharp horrid throb like an icepick being driven into her
temples. Her stomach was sour, not enough for sickness, but the
thought of food made her lips curl in revulsion. She took a deep
breath and slowly released it, trying not to move her head and cause
more pain. Idylly, she wondered what manner of creature must have
crawled in her mouth last night and died there, because her tongue felt
like she'd been sucking on cotton all night and her breath would scare
wraith away.
[Tummy growls. Need food.] Lily called again. [Mallory?] More
tentative.
[Please Lily. Give me a moment to wake up.] She blinked and her
eyeslids felt like sand.
[Why do you hurt?] The inquisitive mental voice didn't help the
throbbing head.
Mallory reached out and put a steadying hand on the edge of the little
desk under the window in her quarters. Hatchling barracks, her mind
managed to supply her location. Something it hadn't been able to do
last night, she vaguely recalled.
[Liquor bad. Vile stuff. No more drinking. Ever. Don't let me.
Please? Promise?] Mallory concentrated hard to form the words in her
head.
[Okay.] The hatchling queen was suddenly solemn.
Mallory moved to the washbasin in the corner of her room and poured the
pitcher of water into the large bowl. It wasn't icy but it was pretty
cold. It would have to do. Mal dunked her whole face into the chilly
water and held it there. The cold water woke her up, removed the hazy
greyness from her mind, though it set the painful pounding off again.
Rising up she took a gulp of air as chilly rivlets of water ran down
her face and dropped on the think cotton ****ft she'd slept in. She
reached for the small towel by the basin and blotted her face dry.
A thought occurred to her and she turned to glance at the narrow bed.
There was no evidence that anyone had shared it with her which was a
relief. She remembered the flower man.Dargis.but that was something to
consider later. She really needed a quick wa****ng up. More than she
could manage from just this basin at least.
She grabbed the small bundle of bath supplies laying on the desk, dug a
plain brown dress out of the wardrobe her mother had packed up for her,
and some undergarments, and slipped some sandals on her feet. Carrying
her goodies, she stumbled from the room.
The communal bathroom was largely empty this morning, and it was easy
to guess everyone who could was sleeping in. Mallory poured a hot tub
of water and sunk into it, grateful for this small luxury. At home,
baths had been in the hiptub in front of the hearth, hurried, and with
lukewarm water. Mallory bent her knees and let her head sink back
under the water as she washed her hair with the bar of soap and
scrubbed herself clean. She didn't linger. Lily was waiting. Drying
herself off, she brushed her teeth and pulled on a fresh ****ft, some
linen drawers and dragged the brown dress down over both, and tugged
the laces tight in the back. Slipping her sandals back on, she bundled
her dirty clothing into the laundry bag marked Hatching Barracks. She
was twisting her hair into a braid and feeling almost human again as
she left the steamy room.
[I'm hungry.] Lily sounded pitiful now.
[Thank you for being so patient. I've got you some food and I'll be
right over to the hatching cavern.] Mallory steadied the two huge
buckets so they wouldn't spill the fresh-killed meat. She tried not to
look at it. The red blood made her stomach churn this morning and she
was glad she'd avoided eating food. She could see the huge entrance to
the hatching cavern loom nearer when the ground started to tremble and
grown. She fell to one knee, banging it painfully on a hard patch of
ground, but managed not to spill her buckets. Above her she heard
cracking of stone, the roaring of dragons, and the thunder of beating
wings as dragons leapt from ledges to avoid falling rocks.
It was over almost as soon as it had begun, and Mallory was up and
running for the hatching cavern, frantically calling for her dragon.
"Lily! Lily! Are you okay?"
[Mallory! The ground moved!] The black baby dragon ran out of the
cavern, wings pinned tight against her ****mmering body her eyes wild as
she looked for her chosen. Lily ran straight for Mallory who fell to
her knees and wrapped her arms around the baby's neck, relief causing a
thick lump in her throat. In an instant she was checking her dragon
over for damage, looking at each fragile wing and feeling all down the
tail.
[I am okay. Are you hurt?] The black snout was sniffing all over the
teenager for blood or signs of injury.
[I'm okay. What was that?]
Both hatchling and rider glanced up as dragons started landing all
around them, and riders, mostly in various states of night clothing,
started dropping from their saddles to the ground.
<Tag, all!>
Respectfully submitted by,
Mallory and Lily
Aka Bianca Payne
Summary:
Day 9 Early Early Morning: Lily wakes up Mallory who is suffering a
massive hangover. Mallory cleans herself up and is bringing food to
the hatchling queen when the ground tremor strikes. Food forgotten,
the two rush to make sure each is okay as whole Wings of startled
dragons and start landing on the Green around them.
---------------------------------
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Message: 2
Date: Thu, 25 Aug 2005 20:14:05 -0500
From: Allen Veazey <veazeyae@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
Subject: Re: [DL-W] - JP - Getting the Point Across
Day16
Late Evening
Trindale's Garden
[old]
Coughing and momentarily blinded, all the Wingleader could do was back
away
quickly. But it was not fast enough as Reginald rose and came at him
again,
this time drawing blood, as J'red ineffectually attempted to block what
he
could barely see.
The Henchman grinned as he heard the soft gasps of the two women before
him.
He decided he could remove the two obstacles standing just out of his
reach, which would in the end, fulfill one purpose and give him extra
room
to swoop in and pluck the Princess right under their noses. To remove
the
Earl's object of desire while all attention was on the last breath of
the
foolish youth who challenged the Earl.
Just as he stepped from the shadow to take out the traitor..he
realized..he
could not move.
[new]
"I wouldn't do that," Ash'chenon said, "if I were you."
Ash had clasped a hand around the man's arm, and had exerted just
enough pressure to keep him from moving forward. It appeared
that both women were still engrossed with the fight taking place
before them.
"How dare-" the henchman said, whipping around. A bared knife was
suddenly in his fist.
"The dagger. Always the weapon of choice of the murder and the
coward," Ash said pleasantly.
The man merely growled, stepped forward, and tried to plunge
the knife in the dragonrider's vitals.
**Ash!!**
Just as quickly, Ash sidestepped the thrust, pivoted, and ended
up behind the henchman. His arms came up and around the other
man's arms and neck; with a twist, he broke the henchman's neck.
Ash looked up to see that the fight was still going on, and that
no one had paid him any attention. He nodded. He didn't even
have to draw his sword.
Quietly, he pulled the man into the cover of the trees.
[old]
J'red tightened his arm around Ari's shoulder and stared back at
Reginald,
his eyes cold and hard.
Reolden hadn't missed the look that had passed between them. "Safe
journey
Reginald; I will remember you to my father when I see him next."
Reginald snorted his disgust and turned on his heels and walked away
with
the air of one who had been minimally inconvenienced. Soft muttering
and
hushed whispers followed him as he disappeared into the darkness.
[new]
Humiliating enough to face what had just happened, but even more
humiliating to find oneself in a mass of trees in the dark. Reginald
stumbled
off in what he hoped was the right direction, muttering curses all the
way.
What had happened to his men? came the thought about a quarter of an
hour later. Useless, worthless... and then he was caught up short.
A short distance away, right in his path, lay the bodies of both his
henchmen. They looked as if they were asleep, but there was no
mistaking the strange angle of one's neck, the stain on the chest of
the other.
Reginald moved closer, slowly, all senses alert, and noticed the
small slip of parchment pinned to the second man. A note.
~I'll be waiting.~
The Earl of Ravencroft straightened with a gasp, and began to stumble
much more quickly into the trees.
**Did you have to kill both of them?**
*I didn't have to kill either of them. But it needed done.*
**Why?**
*It was not enough to make him leave. He had to be afraid to come
back.*
**I still don't like it.**
*It wasn't murder. Both men fought. With me unarmed, no less.*
SUMMARY: Behind the scenes, Ash deals with Reginald's henchmen
and leave them as a grisly warning for him not to return.
Submitted by:
Allen Veazey
Ash'chenon and Wyndamenth
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Message: 3
Date: Fri, 26 Aug 2005 01:33:24 -0400
From: "Arlene" <wondermom@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
Subject: [USS CAPRICORN] Working it off. (JP)
MD 5
0900
Ury made his way to Deck 4's Observation Lounge and stood behind his
usual seat at the conference table as the Captain walked to the end of
the table and took his seat. The rest of the staff sat. The soft
murmuring of conversation was muted this morning. Everyone looked
worse
for the wear.
Ury felt like he had a bit of a hangover. He was drained; feeling as
if
the mission had been a failure. What had they really learned about
those 50 individuals they had "rescued"? He didn't trust the Marquis
or
his companions. But could they have left them there to be ripped
apart?
What happened to the Prime Directive? This should have been an
internal
matter, not a Star Fleet problem. Star Fleet... SFIA... had they
really
been responsible for the mutations on the planet? Or was this some
sort of mass hypnosis. How could they even accept the doctor's
re****ts.
He eyed her suspiciously. She had gone over with their "guests" rather
than stay with her own people. How much could they trust her?
He felt his anger growing as the Captain seemed to lay the blame and
loss of personnel firmly on his shoulders. The re****ts from Star Fleet
records had been falsified. They had gone down under erroneous
assumptions! He raged inside at the unfairness of it all.
Yet, if the captain faulted him for not being more wary and cautious
when going planet-side, why did he seem so willing to accept the
doctor's research so readily?
---
[TAG: staff members]
---
1000
After the meeting broke up, Ury went to his station. After checking
with his staff monitoring their guests on Deck 20, and finding all in
order, he opened the comm. channel to the Security Chief at Starbase
514
to
inform them of the 50 rescued individuals.
"Starbase 514, Ensign, Mitch Hanscom."
"Ensign Hanscom, this is Lt. Ury Rogan, Chief of Security aboard the
USS
Capricorn."
"Rogan? You didn't happen to have a Mary Hanscom at the Academy with
you, did you, lieutenant?"
"Yes, I did. She was a good friend of mine. Why do you ask?"
"Oh, that's my sister, lieutenant! She'd mentioned a Rogan. Thought
it
might be you!" The younger fellow said on the other side of the
viewscreen. He was clearly younger than Ury, but not by much. Mary
had
been a good friend of Ury's at the Academy; not a very good officer,
certainly not as good as Ury, but still a good friend.
"Oh? How is she? I didn't even know she had a brother!" Ury said,
his
spirits lifting, momentarily.
"She's back on Earth, actually. At the Academy."
"Oh, good for her! As an instructor?"
"Um...yes. You could say that." He said, looking down from time to
time.
Clearly there were other things going on at the other end of this
conversation. Ury decided it was best to just move along.
"So, Ensign, first, I wanted to let you know that the Capricorn is
coming in, or at least close by, and second, that we have a few guests
on board."
"Guests?"
"Yes. Fifty planet inhabitants. They surely would have been killed,
and
we rescued them from the surface."
"Ah, I know how that goes." the Ensign intoned, clearly hoping to make
a
good impression with Ury.
He failed, and Ury's mood ****fted. 'What the hell do you know, you
little snot-nosed, barely there but for the grace of god, kid!?!'
"Right, I'm sure you do."
"Where did you say these guests were from?"
"Marin. Over near DS3."
"Yeah, DS3, our sister station. I know it well. Nice place. Good
officers. I was stationed there for a few....Okay...mmmhmmm...and you
said Marin?" The ensign asked, clearly checking his inhabitant logs to
make sure they wouldn't need any special treatment.
"Yes." Ury said, shunting all other communications to the Ops station
while
he wasted his time talking to this very chatty Ensign who clearly only
had
the watch because there were no 'adults' around.
"I'm sorry, Lieutenant." The Ensign said, looking up, his face taking
a
dour turn. "I have bad news for you. All residents of Marin are
restricted to whatever vessel they're on until I can get approval from
SFHQ."
"What does SFHQ care about... never mind. I will have to speak with my
CO."
Ury cut himself off, before he said something that would not reflect
well on the captain, (not that he cared that much right now), or the
****p, (his real
concern).
"Understood. StarBase 514 out!" Ensign Hanscom quickly cut the
connection.
Ury could just imagine the kid wiping his brow once the screen went
dead,
but he was too pissed to even think about it right now. He needed
either a
drink or a punching bag. The latter would have to suffice.
---
1100
Ury swung angrily at the bag, his frustration at the mistakes made
during their away mission stung. No better way of working off steam
than a good workout!
His eyes caught the lithe movement of a figure who was practicing a
kata
on
the open mat. He smiled as he recalled when he had been foolish enough
to
spar with Amy Mattheson after receiving a concussion. Distracted,
while
he admired her movements and flexibility, he missed the bag's return
and
received a hard thump as it smacked into him.
Quickly getting up, Amy sauntered over to him. "Still getting hit with
things, eh, Lt.?"
"Seems like," Ury said, despondently from the ground. She stilled the
bag, then reached down to help him up. He opened his mouth to speak,
then snapped it closed just as quickly.
"What's wrong?" Amy asked with a grunt, as he stood all the way up to
his
six foot-two inch frame. He was substantially taller than her -- even
though she wasn't short at 5'7" -- he still towered over her by quite a
few inches. Throughout the Academy, Amy had been surrounded by people
who were taller,
stronger, faster, whatever, but she never was concerned. Especially
during
defense training. She spent quite a bit of time working out, and it
showed when she was matched up against someone. Very rarely did she
get
beat. On those rare occasions though, she would learn from the
experience and improve. At this point, she saw herself as one of the
top 5 on the ****p.
Sometimes, she was even right about that too.
"Nothing." Ury said muffled, putting his hands on either side of the
punching bag.
"That sounded *real* convincing." She mocked. "Tell me what's wrong."
"Nothing's wrong." Ury said, rotating around the bag so his back was
to
her. She let him be for a moment. Which was probably good, as he set
up for the ki-ya of an air born snap-kick.
"Alright, Ury, I believe you." She said facetiously, going back over
to
her mat to stretch out. Lying face down, she lifted her left arm,
while
simultaneously raising her right leg. Then, after holding it up for
two
minutes or so, she reversed it, then repeated. After a moment or two
of
listening to him beat the bag into submission, she concluded he was
decidedly NOT okay, and stood up again. "Okay, how about this? One
match. Winner takes all. You beat me, and I drop it, never to bring
it
up again. But, I win, and we do both what I want afterwards, and you
tell me what's wrong. How does that sound?"
Her emphasis on the words "what I want" and the challenge intrigued
him.
"Agreed. First one down?"
"That works." She walked over to her mat and rolled it up. No reason
to give an advantage at the outset. Assuming her opening position, she
stood at the ready. "Begin."
Ury bowed, his eyes never leaving Amy's eyes, then assumed his
ready-stance, stiff and formal.
She ****fted her weight softly from foot to foot, feinting from side to
side. He circled her, waiting and looking for an opening. She
wouldn't
give anything away.
Her attack came in a quick flurry of kicks, backing him up. He blocked
well, but a few of them landed soundly.
Then it was his turn. As she spun in, he side-stepped, planting his
kick on her ribs, just under her armpit. Her momentum kept her moving
forward, and her kick went wide, but with quick-thinking, she had time
to retaliate with a backfist to the side of his head.
Ury ducked it, but it skidded off the top of his head, none-the-less;
her reflexes being a tad faster than his. Circling away again, he
watched as she recovered her balance and came in again.
Her fists were only a distraction, as she closed. He blocked, as she
expected, and she executed a sweep, expecting to catch him off-guard.
But the trick didn't work, as he jumped her kick, and spun, snapping
out
a kick of his own. She grunted at the impact. He wasn't holding his
punches, good!
She spun out of reach of his next kick, pulling him forward and off
balance. She used the momentum of her spin to come around and arching
her back, kicked over her head, landing it to his face.
He grinned in admiration. It hadn't been a particularly strong kick,
but wow, she was flexible.
Her kick propelled her into a back walk-over and she spun around as she
came to her feet again, her fists coming up to block, as Ury advanced.
Right, block, left, block, kick, block. Return left, block and punch,
block. It was fast and furious, and both were breathless as they broke
apart, eyeing each other warily.
He was strong, but she wasn't willing to concede the fight quite yet.
The room was large enough that she'd be able to take advantage of his
size, especially when close to walls. With each attack of his, she
moved him forwards. Punch, step, kick, step. He inched forward with
every blow. Finally. Perfect. They were 5 feet away from the wall.
Just what she wanted. Now, if she could just get him to try to kick
her.
She raised her guard, leaving her side vulnerable. He had gone for
that
opening before, and he didn't disappoint her and tried for it again.
With only limited room, he executed a slow round-house, aiming for the
apparent hole in her defense, and had to draw up short as she suddenly
did an impressive spin. Pinned with no room to maneuver, Ury realized
he'd been suckered.
His turn was too late, and she pressed her attack. All he could do was
to back up and the wall was right behind him. She stood, poised for
the
kill.
"Check mate," She smiled.
He lowered his hands and bowed, "The game is yours."
She returned his salute, and said with a wink, "So... now you're all
mine."
He laughed.
"Feeling better?" She grinned.
"Heh," He snorted. They walked over to the bench where he'd left his
gear and he picked up a towel, wiping off the sweat.
She looked at him quizzically, "OK, so what's bothering you?"
"What makes you think something is bothering me?"
"You're distracted. It's obvious." Amy replied. "Now, I won and you
promised, so give. What's wrong?"
Ury sighed, "What can I say? Our commanding officer didn't seem too
impressed by my job performance, and I can't even defend myself. My
team lost the doctor, couldn't find the communicator of a dead crewman,
walked into the middle of an ambush, missed capturing those responsible
for the ambush, and had to beat a hasty retreat -- with nothing but a
blown up shuttle to show for it!"
Amy listened to what he said with a stern look across her face. His
feelings weren't uncommon with this captain. Avi -- no, she still
couldn't
call him captain -- had a way of getting under people's skins, but also
had
a way of making them better crewmen. "Did he take you for a ride
during
staff meeting this morning?"
"No." Ury said sullenly. "Instead, he mostly ignored me. I gave my
re****t. He nodded, but I felt like he didn't really... believe me. No
one had any questions, and then we moved on."
"Is that a bad thing?"
"What do you mean?" Ury asked, looking up at her, for the first time
since
he'd sat down at the newly formed table in the holodeck. "How could it
be a
good thing??" Ury pressed.
"Easy, Ury." Amy sat down next to him.
"It's just..." Ury cut himself off, standing back up and pacing in
front of
her now, before imploring, "I know I'm a good officer, but to have him
ignore me.... ARRGH!" Ury grunted, pu****ng his arms above his head in
frustration.
"Who are you trying to convince?" Amy said, turning her chair towards
him;
leaning back against the table.
"What??" Ury said, snapping around to her.
"I said, who are you trying to convince? Me?" She said, crossing her
ankles in front of her on the floor. "Or you?"
"I don't understand."
"You're a good officer. We all make mistakes."
"Yes, but I make a lot of them."
"We all do." She said, standing up, adjusting her jumpsuit. "Come on,
let's grab lunch."
"I'm not hungry." Ury said, sulking.
"I wasn't asking." She said, smiling, and lifting his chin with two
fingers.
****
Time: 1200
Place: Lounge
"I just don't feel like I can realistically stay if he doesn't have any
sort
of respect for me or the work I do."
"Ury, don't you think you're being a bit hard on yourself?" Amy asked
him.
It was clear to her that he was simply suffering from the trauma of
failure.
"I don't." Ury responded too quickly, Amy thought to herself.
"Hello, Lt., Doctor," the waitress came over saying. "More people in
here
today than usual. What can I get for you?"
"Nothing for me," Ury said, despondently.
"You have to eat, Ury," Amy said. "I'll have the Mangarian Turkey, and
a
cup of the stew. He'll have the same."
"I'm not hungry."
"Alright," Amy looked him straight in the eye, as the waitress walked
away,
"first of all, I'm in charge. Second of all, it's good. And third of
all,
you reeeeeally don't want me cooking for you. Trust me, it's best for
all
involved."
"Well, that's true." He conceded.
"HEY!" She smacked him upside his head. "That was for me knocking you
down
before?"
"Yeah, pretty much."
"Good." She felt better that he was able to joke, even if he didn't.
The food arrived, and even though he'd protested a lack of appetite,
Ury
didn't seem to have any trouble finding room in his large frame for the
turkey or the stew, poli****ng his plate with a swipe of bread. He
chewed it thoughtfully.
"So... you weren't hungry?" Amy smiled.
Ury blinked and then chuckled, "Guess not... hey, are you going to eat
the rest of yours?"
Amy laughed, "No, I'm full, go right ahead."
Ury polished off her turkey and then sat back with a sigh.
"Feeling better now?"
"Yeah. Much. Thanks." Ury smiled.
Amy's return smile made Ury's heart beat a bit louder. "Maybe, you
should stop trying to prove yourself, and just do the job you know you
can do."
"Good advice, counselor." Ury chuckled, "Now how do I do that?"
"Well, maybe you should analyze the mistakes you think you and your
team
made on Marin and..."
"I could run some sims! Yeah!" Ury began to plot. He'd get his team
up to speed. They'd languished too long, getting soft! He'd have them
training daily! There'd be no errors next time. The captain would
see.
"Good. The holodeck can be very useful," Amy agreed. "In fact... I've
got a program I like to run. Would you like to see it?"
Ury, caught up in his fantasy war-games, missed the little wink that
Amy
gave him, "Sure... after I get off duty. Thanks for the talk... and
lunch. I've got to get back to the bridge."
Amy grinned, "Sure. After duty. I'll see you on Holodeck 2."
[TAG: Josh]
---
Summary:
MD 5
0900
Staff Meeting. Ury ponders the wisdom of his captain.
1000
After the staff meeting, Ury contacts Security on Starbase 514 to tell
them about the guests from Marin and is told that they should be
quarantined on the CAP.
1100
Angry, Ury takes out his frustrations on the punching bag in the gym.
Amy Mattheson is there, working out, and notices his frustration.
Trying to draw him out, she challenges him to a martial arts match.
She
wins and he has to accompany her to lunch.
1200
Lunch in the Lounge. Amy and Ury chat about what is bothering him.
Her
comments and questions lead Ury to the conclusion that he and his team
need to train more -- using simulations in the holodeck. Amy suggests
a
holo-program of her own and invites Ury to join her. Unwittingly, Ury
agrees to meet her after hours.
---
Respectfully submitted by:
Arlene Jacobs
AKA
Lt. Ury Rogan, TAC/SEC
And
Josh Turnoff
AKA
Dr. Amy Mattheson
And writing Ensign Mitch Hanscom
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